I have a 2008 BMW 535i with 176k miles and it's not showing any codes. I get oil changes religiously with LiquiMoly. I had oil leaks -- valve cover leak and oil filter housing -- but they were very minor. I thought I'd try the AT-205 you recommended on your YouTube channel because I'm struggling to pay extensive vet bills for my rescue dog. The day after I put the product in, my engine mysteriously shut off at a stoplight. That has never happened to my car. About a week of driving later and my car went from having minor leaks where there was just a tiny bit of oil under the hood (but none on the floor) to a literal huge puddle in my garage! I don't know what to do. The original quote was $2730 to fix the minor leaks but looking at the oil splattered everywhere under the hood and in the alternator and all over my garage floor I'm terrified to find out what it's going to cost now. I can't afford a new car. I was able to drive it a few miles to the mechanic but it was smoking badly like it was going to catch on fire. What happened? I wrote to the company that makes the AT-205 but they didn't respond. I wish I'd never used this stuff. How can I prove to AT-205 that they destroyed my car? I don't know what to do. 🙁
I don't know what to do. 🙁
Your first step is to stop jumping to conclusions, and find out where the oil came from. Was the filter on tightly?
Wipe it all down, put some oil in , and start it up.
How can I prove to AT-205 that they destroyed my car?
There may be nothing to prove. You had neglected pre-existing leaks. Leaks get worse over time, not better.
I thought I'd try the AT-205 you recommended
How much did you put in?
@imperator THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME! GOING FROM NO OIL ON THE GARAGE FLOOR TO A PUDDLE ABOUT 12 FEET² AND A SMOKING CAR IS TERRIFYING WHEN YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T AFFORD A NEW CAR!
Scotty Kilmer YouTube videos is what gave me the confidence to try it. I was very nervous about it but I did as much research as I could and read the directions.
ATP says about AT-205: "Full 8oz bottle will treat a 6qt capacity with maximum effectiveness. Adjust usage based on capacity."
My car is a 2008 BMW 535i with an oil capacity of 6.9 quarts so I put the whole 8oz bottle in.
P.S. I like your wolf picture! I adopted a rescue wolfdog years ago. Wolves are such majestic creatures. They're the only animal I know of (besides some people) that care for and feed the elderly ones in their group. My wolfdog started me down the path of rescuing many other dogs and even an ex-racehorse.
I'm still completely in the dark on this whole issue.
They really berated me for that
that's nice and all, but what about the leak? where did the oil come from?
I ended up costing myself an extra $1805 beyond the $2730
for what?
mechanic said I'd essentially given my car "cancer".
sounds a bit melodramatic
this short video about how [my mechanic says] I damaged my car:
There's nothing in this video that shows how at205 made your engine leak, or damaged your car. Hope you don't get sued for slander.
@imperator I apologize for not explaining it better. I have traumatic brain damage from a pedestrian accident. I already had ADHD. They say my IQ is around 85 so please bear with me. Let me try again...
Before the AT-205: Arizona Bimmer originally quoted me $2730 to fix a valve cover leak ($1530) and oil filter housing ($1200). The leaks were extremely minor though so it wasn't a rush. After the AT-205 this is what the mechanic wrote: Found active oil coming from oil cooler lines. There is an active drip when the vehicle is on. Recommend replacing the oil cooler lines. Vehicle is going to need extensive oil cleanup as oil is all over front of vehicle which can be danger to the drive belt and the upper coolant hose. Vehicle still has oil leaks coming from oil cooler and valve cover and possibly the oil pan. Recommend starting with oil cooler along with the oil cooler lines and cleaning oil residue in order to properly narrow down further oil leaks. RECOMMENDATION Perform oil filter housing reseal with both oil cooler lines. Also perform oil service. Will perform oil cleanup. $1805 So I assume my bill is going to be $2730 + $1805 = $4535 Weirdly that's almost exactly what my oil leaks cost me in 2022. They charged $800 just for the oil cleanup so that's part of the expense this time too.
@imperator You're right, it wasn't a very informative video but I wanted to warn people there are rare cases where AT-205 can be catastrophic. Before I used it I did a lot of research and every video I watched, especially Scotty Kilmer videos, praised the stuff. I thought the worst that could happen is that it wouldn't work. It just doesn't seem like a coincidence to me though that my car went from having very minor oil leaks and nothing on the garage floor to the engine shutting off on its own within 24 hours (something I've never had a car do to me) and a huge oil puddle on the garage floor and oil splattered everywhere under the hood and all over the alternator and everything else. I know very little about cars. I wish my dad had taught me about cars instead of Calculus. So I don't expect anyone to believe me but my mechanic is extremely good so I trust him when he blames the AT-205 for what happened. I've been going there 17 years every since I [foolishly] fell in love with Bimmers.
I appreciate you saying I don't get sued for slander. As far as a lawsuit, I have 1st hand knowledge. I got sued in Arizona Superior Court once for defamation. I accused a couple of stealing money from the horse rescue I volunteered at. To me there is nothing lower than someone who steals from charity. My accusation was printed in a newspaper. The charity ended up getting money back and I won my case because what I said was true. It did cost me a lot of money in attorney's fees but I believe in standing up for what is right even if it's not in your best interest. I'm extremely disappointed in the company ATP. Why? When I explained in detail why I believed their product AT-205 damaged my car, their response was to offer to send me a free bottle!!!!!!! That's why I'm so mad at them. They said they'd never seen a case where AT-205 damaged a vehicle. Never?! That sounds incredibly disingenuous to me. I wrote back with pictures and an explanation from my mechanic but now they're just ignoring me.
I'm dealing with a sick dog at the moment but eventually I'll try to make a better video when I get my car back. Maybe I'll try to do a video with Zeus the wolfdog instead of Jeff the goofy 1/2 clown 1/2 Great Pyrenees hehe 🐕🐶 Thank you again for your help!
My mechanic told me he believes the product did this by changing pressure in the system.
That would be easy to verify by checking the oil pressure and seeing if it is outside specification. (Though of course it would be best to have before and after readings.) Was the oil pressure tested to verify this?
I ended up costing myself an extra $1805 beyond the $2730 I was already quoted by using this stuff.
It's an unfortunate situation. If you and your mechanic are convinced the product is responsible for the additional repairs needed, as a practical matter you would undoubtedly need to sue the company to attempt recovery. Your mechanic would need to testify as an expert witness and would likely have to charge for his time. A lawyer will cost a lot more than the $1805 additional on top of your original estimate.
We have no way of knowing from here what actually happened. Most of us do recommend proper repairs be performed rather than using "mechanic in a bottle/can" type products unless the situation is that the alternative is the junkyard. However, thousands of people have used AT-205 with the worst outcome being that it simply did not work. It is going to be very difficult to prove that the product was responsible for what is happening with your car, particularly given its age and mileage.
@chucktobias Oh my gosh! You're totally right! I wish I would've thought about asking them to take measurements before they drained it. You're totally right about the legal stuff. The skyrocketing cost of expert witnesses is becoming a big topic in law. You're right it would cost me more to bring about a lawsuit than I would win back. In the past I have fought battles like that on principle but my favorite attorney keeps trying to remind me "lawsuits are about money, not principles" but it's a concept I haven't been able to fully absorb. In fact, I hired an attorney to fight on principle for something this year. My aunt was basically scammed out of her life savings. Everyone mocked me because I had to use a credit card to afford them. I hate people who take advantage of the elderly though so I felt obligated. Unfortunately the attorney I hired was also so elderly that they ended up quitting and I eventually got my money back.
Thank you for your help!
P.S. I like your YouTube videos ❤️🤍💙
It's highly unlikely that AT-205 "destroyed" your car. You have to understand how the product works, it's not a miracle cure. (Any "mechanic in a bottle/can" product is going to be a crap shoot.) AT-205 lubricates and swells dry, shrunken rubber seals in an attempt to reduce or eliminate leaks. However if the seals are physically damaged or worn out it won't help and the effect of the swelling could potentially make matters worse. It's designed primarily for rubber seals around rotating parts such as crankshaft seals. I would not expect it to do much for a valve cover gasket or oil filter housing leak, especially if those use other than rubber gaskets (cork, RTV, etc.).
You're dealing with a 17-year-old European (high-maintenance) car that has fairly high mileage so it's going to be difficult or impossible to prove why the oil leaking is now worse. However if the leaks are from the original leakage areas (valve cover and oil filter housing), only worse, it should not cost any more to repair those than it would have prior to the AT-205 treatment.
You should first determine where the oil leak is coming from. Is the oil on the floor dripping down from the leaky valve cover or is it from the front or rear main seal?
@chucktobias THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO HELP!
There are completely new leaks within a week of using the AT-205. My mechanic told me he believes the product did this by changing pressure in the system. I was actually in shock so I'll have to get him to write down a better explanation. I go to a reputable mechanic that only works on BMWs. The reason I like them is because they're super honest. Yes my car is old but I keep up with my oil changes. The oil leaks I had were very, very minor. If I was actually getting oil on the floor I would've gotten them fixed instead of trying the AT-205. The reason they were even found is because I'm one of those [unfortunate] people who has hyperosmia so I detect odors at much lower concentrations than the average person. I'm like a human Bloodhound. Anyway there was very little oil leaking but I could smell the leaks. Within days of putting the AT-205 in the oil the smell got much, much stronger and my car started smoking under the hood. My garage went from having no oil on the ground to a puddle about 12 feet²!
It sucks they had to pour out all the LiquiMoly I just got 2 months ago but they talked about the AT-205 like it was radioactive or something. My mechanic was horrified by what I did and said it was like "giving cancer to a car". I was so depressed because I can't afford another car and he said we may not even know the full extent of the damage for awhile.
THE SHOP OBSERVED:
Found active oil coming from oil cooler lines. There is an active drip when the vehicle is on. Recommend replacing the oil cooler lines. Vehicle is going to need extensive oil cleanup as oil is all over front of vehicle which can be danger to the drive belt and the upper coolant hose. Vehicle still has oil leaks coming from oil cooler and valve cover and possibly the oil pan. Recommend starting with oil cooler along with the oil cooler lines and cleaning oil residue in order to properly narrow down further oil leaks.
RECOMMENDATION
Perform oil filter housing reseal with both oil cooler lines. Also perform oil service.
In regard to the engine shutting off on its own for the 1st time ever within 24 hours of putting the AT-205 in, they wrote:
TECHNICIAN NOTE
Scan vehicle for fault codes and found fault or turbocharger boost pressure low fault is currently not present but what's that twice. Could be possibly from oil leak and oil additive. Would like to start by fixing oil leak and cleaning and performing an oil change clearing the fault codes and test driving the vehicle to see if fault returns.
It just doesn't seem like a coincidence to me
leaking oil cooler lines are not that uncommon. I had the same thing before. You have a 17 year old car. The chances the at205 caused this are slim to nil. I think the old, aged rubber hoses simply sprung a leak. It happens. so far I see no evidence to suggest otherwise. It's all on the word of your mechanic. Scotty has been working on cars 50+ years so I know who I would rather trust. I think you should have more evidence before "warning people about catastrophes"
I have a 1979 Pontiac Catalina, the input shaft seal leaks. I decided to try AT-205 and it more or less worked. The car does still leak like before, but not nearly as quickly.
When I'd pull into the parking lot for my 8-hour shift, I'd come back out and transmission fluid would get all over the pavement. After I tried AT-205, when I brought the car into the shop to get the rear main seal replaced, I told the mechanic to change the input shaft seal if it required changing. After they replaced the rear main, the mechanics drove it around to try to get it to leak. It wouldn't leak, so I paid them.
I found out later that the transmission still weeps fluid, but not in droves like it did before.
My mechanic was horrified by what I did and said it was like "giving cancer to a car".
That mechanic is being over-dramatic, to say the least. AT-205 is very similar to brake fluid. When you change the oil, the AT-205 is gone. As the AT-205's effectiveness "fades", the seals will shrink and harden again. It all depends what kind of pressure that seals were under as to whether or not they could move out of place when they're rejuvenated. That's why the company cautions you to not put too much in at once.
Rust is cancer, you can't fix it without cutting it out and putting new steel in. You can get new seals and the engine will basically be as good as new.
@justin-shepherd THANK YOU! That's true about rust! Yeah he scared me with the cancer comment. I just had a cancer scare with my dog so the C word stuck in my head.
P.S. You have a cool car!
I had brain cancer two and a half years ago and I can only do gross movements with my left side now.
Thanks! I get compliments all the time!
@justin-shepherd Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry to hear that! An acquaintance of mine was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and was told he only had a few months to live. He ended up giving away almost all his money and possessions. That was about 7 years ago and he's cancer free. I don't know if that means he was misdiagnosed or if there was a miracle but I felt so bad for him that he was left broke. My mom suspected skin cancer and the doctors told her she didn't have it... until a year later they said oops she does have cancer. My sister was constantly at the doctor and even had heart surgery and an aneurysm and the doctors never noticed she had cancer until she was stage 3. It took chemo and radiation and surgery to save her. I've completely lost my faith in doctors. I don't have medical insurance anyway so I guess it doesn't matter. Didn't they find that brain cells can regenerate after saying previously that they couldn't? I know they've made paralyzed dogs walk again using stem cells. I'm hopeful that you'll gain more and more function over time either naturally or with new technologies. Stay hopeful ✨️
P.S. And never put AT-205 in that beautiful car of yours 😆
Oh, the answer to the question was the oil filter on tight is yes. I go to a certified BMW mechanic with decades of experience and they've never forgotten to tighten it in the 17 years I've been bringing my used BMWs to them. I religiously get oil changes. I know my car is older but I haven't neglected it. The oil leaks they diagnosed before were extremely minor. I know this sounds silly but I could smell them because I have hyperosmia (with a nose like my wolfdog) but they weren't that visibly noticeable. I do all the stuff my mechanic tells me to, unfortunately this time I did something extra by adding the AT-205. They really berated me for that. The mechanic said I'd essentially given my car "cancer". I feel like such a fool. I was trying to save money cuz my rescue dog is putting me in the poorhouse but I ended up costing myself an extra $1805 beyond the $2730 I was already quoted by using this stuff.
Oh gosh... I meant to capitalize the "THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME" but I apologize for any other caps. I did read the rules and didn't mean to do that but it didn't let me edit it. My dog Jeff is poking at me with a paw while I was writing 😛
You can see my car and Jeff in this short video about how [my mechanic says] I damaged my car:
https://youtube.com/shorts/UIVWqStFWS4?feature=shared